Encouraging Learning Beyond Test Day: Nurturing Growth Mindset and Overcoming Math Anxiety

Hot take: It’s okay, great even, if learning happens on or after the day of the test. 

Overcoming math anxiety

Many of our math students struggle with math anxiety, and the biggest challenge that I face on test day is not that my students don’t know the concepts, but that my students let math anxiety convince them that they don’t know the concepts when indeed they do. 

So often, we beg kiddos to ask us meaningful questions, and then we squash that on test day. Why? Sometimes, the best conversions I have with students for the whole unit don’t happen until the day of the test. 

Asking meaningful questions

When I was in high school, I *never* asked questions. I thought it was a sign of weakness, and I didn’t want to seem like I didn’t know all the answers. So even if I was stuck, I had to keep up my persona that I knew it all. 

In my first semester of college, I was in Calc III, and something clicked. I realized that if I walked up to my professor (Brad, in his distressed jeans, flip flops, and a Hawaiian shirt) he was more than happy to let me externally process. Usually, I ended up answering my question myself or figuring out what mistake I had made just by talking through it out loud, and Brad wouldn’t even say anything. 

My kids all know this story, and if I say, “Questions on test day–do I love ‘em or hate ‘em,” they will respond, “love ‘em!” and If I mention my step count, they know my ideal test day is spent zooming around the room talking to kiddos. 

Quick disclaimer: 

We all have had that student, who takes asking questions too far, and essentially wants you to sit next to them and reassure them of every move. Those are a whole other ballgame, I have a great strategy for these moments which I will touch on in a coming post. 

Test day learning

Now what do these discussions look like? Many teachers and students when they hear my little spiel assume I am giving information away for free, and we all probably know a teacher (or two or three) who does that. For example, if a student says, “Yo Chiz, how do I do this” I’ll just tell them, “So you start with…” and solve the problem myself. No siree. 

I don’t do any of the math. I ask prompting questions. I reiterate the question. I encourage them. I point out great processes! I celebrate good math instincts (i.e. a student tells me “This doesn’t seem right…”). I may try to jog their memory of a specific day or example. But my students are still doing the work. 

Here are a few examples: recently in Alg 2, we had a test over graphing polynomial functions and solving polynomial equations. While solving, here were the two most common hiccups: a few students were only factoring, but not continuing to solve, and some students were unsure of which method of solving (for quadratics) to use. For the first hiccup, I usually will prompt a student to revisit the question, “Did I ask you to solve, or did I ask you to just factor?” For the second question, I reminded them (using the same language as I did during instructional and practice days) to consider our solving flowchart. A sample set of questions I ask might look like, “What is our favorite, ideal way to solve? Can we do that here? Why not? What’s next,” to get the students started. 

Learning from mistakes

Even when the bell rings and test day has come to a close, the learning still hasn’t come to an end. I am just as thrilled (if not even more so) when my students master a standard after working hard on corrections after the test as if they mastered it after the first exposure. 

I try to get my assessments back into the hands of my students as quickly as is feasible (no all-nighters here), with meaningful and actionable feedback. I can dive deeper into that in a later post, but my feedback shouldn’t just be a final say, but it should drive my students to make changes and correct their work. 

Growth mindset in education